Moon Patrol tech. THANKS!

[nostrebor]

Thanks to all that responded to my tech question! My MP is working all the way with only a $3 investment at BobRoberts. The original parts were there, but had been hacked with different molex connectors. Replaced the pins/connectors, and one molex header on the power board, and it is fixed.

I also replaced the crusty buttons, the broken speaker grille, and cleaned it up. $65 for the game + $22 total in parts = lots of fun.




OK. The Moon Patrol I picked up last week had a hacked up power supply board harness and some weird stuff going on there. So I decided to dig in and try to get it going. Step one is realizing that I do not know what I am doing here... so please be patient with me

 I have a Bubbles also, which has been converted to (no worky either) that had all original power supply stuff with correct wiring.

So I checked the Bubbles set-up and the boards/pinouts are the same, and the PS works 100% with good voltages and all 3 leds lit. Plug in the game PCB and coin door harnesses and I get power to monitor & sound, but no PCB joy and led #1 on the power board goes out. All fuses check out and if you take the load off the power board, led #1 lights back up.

RGVAC search says bad bridge rectifier, but the dates of the info are 3+ years old. Is that where I am at? If so which is the best long-term solution?

a. I could re-build the board, but I will need some soldering training/practice. This is cheaper, but I am a little worried about screwing up the PCB with my bad soldering skills.

b. I am also considering a new switching PS. Arcadeshop has a PS with a pcb that is plug and play to the Williams pinout for the PCB. It has no header for the coin-door harness though. How is that harness implemented?

I'm just looking for a nice list of educated opinions here, so I can  get it going.

Thanks in advance!

Dave.

[nostrebor]

MODs...

So sorry, I accidently managed to post this in the main rather than arcade misc. Could you please move it for me?

Thanks

[SirPeale]

MODs...

So sorry, I accidently managed to post this in the main rather than arcade misc. Could you please move it for me?

Instead of a message like this, you should flag the post with the 'report post' button.

[nostrebor]

Peale,

I tried, but I got this error...

 "You can't report your own post to the moderator, that doesn't make sense!"

Thanks for fixing it.

[tbombaci]

Ditch the power supply and use a switcher. The harness is pretty simple to make.

You can tap into the +5v to power the coindoor lights.

-Tom

[nostrebor]

Ditch the power supply and use a switcher. The harness is pretty simple to make.

You can tap into the +5v to power the coindoor lights.

-Tom

Thanks Tom!

1 more question if I may? Do I keep the isolation transformer and just lose the old power PCB and heat sink, or do I replace the entire power setup and wire in new isolation TF/fuse/etc?

Thanks again for your input.

Dave.

[tbombaci]

Yes. You will need the ISO transformer.

Simply disconnect the power board harness and connect the harness to the switcher (harness).  I just left the power board in the machine. I mounted the switcher on the bottom of the cabinet.

-Tom

[cw]

While working on a moon patrol not long ago with ps problems I thought of doing the same but I had read that it need the         +5 voltage a few sec before the 12 comes in.
The reason for this was for the bios to come up and have the correct settings in the game.


   Ill look around for the info and repost when i find it

[nostrebor]

Thanks guys. I'll keep watching for updates.

Until I get parts I just have to look at it and wish it worked   I am boning up on my MP skills on my MAME cabinet though.

[Dave_K.]

I have a Moon Patrol to Jamma fingerboard if you want to use a jamma harness.  PM me if interested.

[SirPeale]

RGVAC search says bad bridge rectifier, but the dates of the info are 3+ years old. Is that where I am at? If so which is the best long-term solution?

The game is 20 years old.  I'm betting you can still use that info. 

[nostrebor]

RGVAC search says bad bridge rectifier, but the dates of the info are 3+ years old. Is that where I am at? If so which is the best long-term solution?

The game is 20 years old.  I'm betting you can still use that info. 

Actually you can look at the big rectifier and tell it is probably toast, so I would say that the diagnosis is correct. "It's dead Jim." seems appropriate

I have a switcher coming and I'm going to set it up temporary to see if the power problem is the only issue. I will probably also order a kit from Bob Roberts to fix the Wiliams power board, just for the practice. Knowledge through experience is always a good thing. Also I get to buy a solder sucker, which sounds like fun.

In the end, if I keep the game, I will build a new setup like Tom's, just for the convenience of having a dependable power source.

Thanks for all the posts!

Dave.

[nostrebor]

IT LIVES!! YEAH!

I got a Peter Chau PS today in the mail and first thing was to put +5v on my MP to see if the boardsets work. As you can see in the pics, this was an UGLY test. I just picked up the +5 and ground for the board, and let the original PS do the rest.

The outcome... Perfect picture and perfect attract mode.

Now I have to rush off to Bob Roberts and order some parts, so I can fix it right.

The pic of the screen shows the extent of the dirt collected on the monitor, it has no burn at all.